Parker: Getting ready for climate change hazards

Getting
ready for the natural hazards of climate changeAddress
to the Hazards Management conference9.35am, 29 July
2008, Te Papa, Wellington

It gives me great pleasure
to open this conference on Hazards Management.I would
particularly like to welcome those overseas visitors. I
note we have visitors not only from across the Tasman, but
from as far away as the United States and the UK. Welcome
to New Zealand. It’s excellent to have a broad range of
international participation at these conferences, as we can
all learn from each others’ experiences.

I’d also
like to welcome you to Te Papa, our National museum. It
is quite fitting to have a hazards conference here. Not only
does the museum house the “awesome forces” exhibition
– a display on natural hazards - the building itself has
some unique features. You might have noticed that there are
no exhibits on the ground floor. This is one of the measures
designed to protect the museum’s treasures, in case of a
tsunami. Also this building features base isolators –
designed to lessen the impact of earthquakes. It’s good to
see evidence of detailed planning for the impacts of hazards
in such an iconic place.

This second Australasian Hazards
Management Conference follows a successful series of seven
New Zealand-based hazard conferences held over the years
that had the theme of “science to practice.” These
conferences have showcased the great work being done in
linking researchers and practitioners to integrate hazard
information into effective risk management.

In planning
for the future, one important component to contemplate is
the impacts that climate change is likely to have,
particularly for flooding and coastal hazards.

Climate
change is expected to exacerbate the hazards we face. As we
move on into the 21st century, changes in our climate are
likely to lead to more intense rain and wind events during
storms, more frequent serious droughts on top of general
changes in temperature and rainfall patterns.

We need to
prepare for the risks and opportunities climate change
poses.

Indeed in New Zealand we are required by law to
respond to the challenges climate change presents whenever
we are undertaking activities covered by both the Resource
Management Act and the Civil Defence and Emergency
Management Act. The RMA requires that “particular regard
be given to the effects of climate change”. For Civil
Defence and Emergency Management, the Strategy recognises
that we need to consider “the implications of climate
change”.

Today I am pleased to announce the release of
two climate change publications from the Ministry for the
Environment, that will help stakeholders come to grips with
climate change implications for their sector.

The first is
“Preparing for climate Change”. This publication is a
synopsis of the technical report “Climate Change Effects
and Impacts Assessment”, released earlier this year.

It highlights the most up-to-date projections on how New
Zealand’s climate will change in the future. It provides
detail on the changes expected in the patterns of
temperature and rainfall, both regionally around the
country, but also from season to season. It also provides
estimates of the increases expected in heavy rainfall.
“Preparing for Climate Change” demonstrates how to
incorporate climate change information into local government
regulatory, asset management and planning processes.

The
second publication is the “Coastal Hazards and Climate
Change Guidance Manual”. While the Coastal Manual
highlights a wide range of coastal hazard issues, the major
issue it considers is the advice on planning for sea level
rise.

With many of the world’s cities built by the
ocean, sea level rise is an important issue in climate
change. However, the science in this area can’t yet
provide precise answers as to the absolute value of the sea
levels expected, say, by the end of the century.
Consequently, we must consider the risk from a range of sea
level rise values. The manual advises we should plan for a
base level of 50 centimetres by the end of the century, but
also consider the risks posed by sea level rises in excess
of 80 centimetres.

You will get an opportunity to
discuss the content of the manual at a workshop on Coastal
Hazards and Climate Change being held later this week in
conjunction with this conference. The workshop is a chance
to ask experts detailed questions, and to consider the
hazards implications and responses in depth. I invite you
read the manual, look at the sea level rise advice closely,
consider it carefully, and act on it.

The government
recognises the importance of providing information such as
that release in these manuals today. By acting prudently
now to plan for the future, we can avoid much greater costs
later on.

These publications are part of a wide spectrum
of initiatives the government is working on, both to reduce
the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate
change, and to prepare our communities for climate change
which is unavoidable.

On the mitigation side, we have an
Energy Strategy to get us to 90 percent renewable
electricity by 2025. We aim to be carbon neutral in both
the transport and energy sectors by 2040. And we are
investing heavily in research and development to crack the
issue of agricultural emissions, especially from livestock,
which presents a particular challenge for New Zealand.
Central to all this is the development of an emissions
trading scheme which will be world-leading in its inclusion
of all sectors of the economy – energy, industry,
transport, agriculture, waste and forestry.

Climate change
presents a particularly broad challenge for governments, and
for the world. We cannot ignore it and hope it goes away.
It will affect the lives of millions of people, but the
impacts can be lessened with forethought, good information,
and careful planning. That is why the work you are doing to
help future-proof our communities is so important.

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